Lighting a Path to Change

In January, the Aerial Development Group team traveled to Kenya to visit the orphanage we help support through our social enterprise business and through a partnership with Horizon Initiative. For every home we sell in Nashville, we sponsor an orphan in Kenya for a year in the name of the new homeowner(s).

During our pre-trip planning, we decided that in addition to meeting and playing with the children at the orphanage, we also wanted to do something for families in the nearby village of Bondo. Forty-one percent of the Bondo population lives in extreme poverty and 23 percent live with malaria or HIV/AIDS. Our next micro-community orphanage will be built Bondo, where one out of five kids is orphaned with little or no support.

The orphanage will help these children fulfill their potential and achieve self-sustainability. Electricity, where it does exist, is erratic in Bondo. This lack of electricity is a barrier to education, health, security and income. Children can’t study and keep up their education because there is no electricity once they finish working and return home at the end of the day. The lack of electricity also makes it difficult for the families to cook healthy meals.

The Aerial team saw this as an opportunity to help create change. So, prior to our trip, we did a little crowdfunding and raised money to purchase solar-powered lanterns to distribute in Bondo. Many of you opened your hearts and donated generously, making it possible for us to distribute 100 lanterns to families. Lanterns that will illuminate the darkness, help light a path to change, and bring a cleaner, healthier living environment for the people of Bondo.